


Romans 15:7

by stjarna



Series: 25 Days Christmas Romance Challenge and AoS Advent 2017 [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 25 Days of Christmas Prompt Challenge, F/M, Mackalena, Religious Undertones, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-11 00:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12923271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: From the25 Days of Christmas Romance Prompt ChallengeDay 5: Character A and Character B are co-workers, but they barely know each other. But they both have to work through the holidays.





	Romans 15:7

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you to @marvelthismarvelthat for the quick beta and helping me out with Spanish.
> 
> And big thank you to @theclaravoyant for giving me the idea.

“Are you the rookie?”

Elena looked up from her Bible, eyeing the source of the deep and silky-smooth voice. He looked like the cliché of a firefighter come to life: tall, muscular, broad shoulders, arms the size of legs, legs the size of tree trunks. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, looking expectantly in her direction, smiling widely. Elena had to admit that his welcoming smile and bright friendly eyes made up a little for his insulting question. But, he had called her ‘rookie’.

_Típico._

She scoffed. “I may be new, but I’m not a rookie,” she replied drily.

“My bad.” He raised his hands apologetically, and Elena gave him credit for that. He took a step closer, extending his hand in her direction. “I’m Alphonso Mackenzie, but everyone calls me Mack.”

Elena didn’t bother to get out of her chair, but accepted his handshake nonetheless. “I’m Elena Rodriguez. Some people call me Yo-Yo, but they usually regret that later.”

He plopped down on the chair next to her, leaning against the backrest. “How come?”

Elena furrowed her brows in mild confusion. “Because I don’t like being called Yo-Yo.”

He chuckled quietly, waving one hand in front of his chest. “No, no, no. I mean, why do they call you that?”

Elena shrugged. “I’m fast. Into the burning building. Out of the burning building. People saved.” She imitated a throwing out a yoyo and retrieving it. “Yo-Yo.”

Mack pursed his lips, nodding. “That’s cool. We can use someone like that, Yo-Yo.”

“I know.” Elena scoffed, giving him a challenging one-sided grin. “And I said people who call me Yo-Yo usually regret it.”

He dropped his head back in embarrassment. “Aw. Yeah, right. Sorry. Won’t happen again.”

“It better not, Turtleman.” Elena smirked teasingly.

“Ouch.” He grimaced in pretend pain, before once again raising his hands in a kind of peace-offering. “Now come on. I didn’t mean to start this off on the wrong foot.”

“Don’t worry. I like to tease. Hope your skin is thick enough for that.”

He let out a quiet laugh. “I think I can handle it.”

“We’ll see.”

Mack took a sip from his water bottle, before using it to gesture back and forth between Elena and himself. “Looks like we both pulled the holiday shift, hm?”

Elena nodded. “Yes, but I don’t mind. My family is back in Colombia. So I’d rather be at the station, helping people than sitting alone in my apartment missing my mamá’s buñuelos.”

Mack bobbed his head in understanding. “Yeah, my little brother’s stationed abroad. So I have nowhere to be either.”

He leaned closer to the table, tilting his head to read the title of her book. A smile flashed across his face. He lifted his head slightly in the direction of the book. “Read that a lot?”

“Sí,” Elena confirmed. “Especially around this time of year. It’s a tradition in Colombia. Novena de Aguinaldos _._ We pray for nine days, read from the Bible, eat, sing, dance.”

Mack pursed his lips, nodding in impressed understanding. He leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his water and letting his eyes wander to the TV that was playing in the background.

“Mack?” Elena asked quietly.

He looked back at her. “Yeah?”

She lifted her chin in his direction. “That necklace mean something to you?”

He picked up the small golden cross pendant hanging on a gold chain around his neck. He glanced down at it, one corner of his mouth ticking up. “Means a hell of a lot to me.”

“Catholic?”

He nodded.

“It’s another thing I miss,” Elena remarked thoughtfully. “Midnight mass. It’s always so festive. Special atmosphere. Even more than on other days.”

“You got a church around here?”

Elena shook her head. “I’m too new. Not enough time to go looking.”

Mack pulled the corners of his mouth down, contemplatively. “Hey, our shift ends at ten. If you want, you can come with me. My church’s pretty cool.”

“Pretty cool?” Elena asked with a teasing twinkle in her eye. “All the hip people go there.”

“Hell yeah!” he exclaimed, causing Elena to chuckle.

Mack shrugged. “Come on. What do you say?”

“¡Gracias!”

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, until Mack cleared his throat.

“Hey, so, tell me more about those bunny-halos your mom makes.”

Elena laughed out loud. “Buñuelos. It’s a bit like a Colombian donut hole. But much better.”

“Aw. Man. Now I want one.”

“Dímelo a mí.”

They spent the rest of their (luckily uneventful) shift talking about their various Christmas traditions, before heading to mass together, and for [coffee](https://68.media.tumblr.com/09c597a9e796d013d1d94dbf6248f167/tumblr_ouyqqtLIGD1qe4wcyo3_500.gif) afterwards.


End file.
